Don't know my name
by Merebelle14084
Summary: When Troy takes a bet to try to get with Gabriella, he has no idea what he's getting into, Troyella, Zekepay, Chaylor, RyanxOc
1. Chapter 1

-1"Good practice man!" Chad said after finishing the wildcat cheer. Troy Bolton just nodded his head as he pulled off his jersey to hit the showers.

Troy Bolton: God of east high, every girl wants to date him (mostly just do him) and every guy wants to be him. He was arrogant, cocky, just like most of the popular jocks were. He was the main player of the school, the list of girls he slept with was ridicously long.

"So whose on the list for tonight?" Zeke asked him as they exited the locker room. They stopped and stood waiting for the girls cheerleading squad to appear from their locker room.

Zeke Baylor: One of Troy's team mates and closest friends, interested in Troy's way of dating considering his girlfriend, Sharpay and him had been going out for almost a year now.

"Nobody from here. All the rest of the girls I could hit are virgins." he said confidently.

"Dude, Troy Bolton, has never done a virgin?" Jason Cross asked.

Jason Cross: The stupid one.

"Dude, you know that all the girls who want to be with me like to pick up experience first, be the best or whatever. Virgins cry or what not." Troy snorted as he winked at Cara, the head cheerleader. Cara rolled her eyes, Troy and her had dated, but they were just friends now.

"You scared or something? A little tears going to bring you down?" Chad laughed, until Cara came up and smacked him on the arm.

Chad Danforth: Troy's best friend since Pre-K, the only one who could ever get away with saying something like that to Troy. Played the scene as much as Troy, but didn't have nearly as long a list as Troy. He was more into the popularity of being a basketball star.

Cara Lynch: The only girl who could put up being friends with the guys. Dated Troy Sophomore year of high school. Captain of the cheerleading squad, but mainly because of ability. Although her blonde hair and deep blue eyes didn't hurt anyone. Currently dating Ryan Evans, Shapay's brother.

"Would you stop talking about women like property." she scolded Chad before turning to Troy "You've never done a virgin?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice.

"I'm a guy, you're a girl, we don't talk about sex unless we're doing it." Troy told her.

"I betcha Troy couldn't get a virgin if he wanted to." Chad chimed in. Cara slapped him again but said nothing.

"I smell a bet coming on." Zeke said rolling his eyes as Cara and Jason nodded.

"I don't smell anything." Jason commented.

"Cara, you're head cheerleader, you know whose who, set somebody up for Troy." Chad said. "One hundred says you can't get her to sleep with you at the School Trip in Hawaii." Chad told him.

"Up that and you're on." Troy said, never being one to turn down a bet.

"Two hundred says he can." Ryan said coming up behind Cara and giving her a peck on the cheek.

"By tomorrow morning first period, I'll have found someone." Cara concluded, as the gang headed their separate ways to go home.

HSM HSM HSM HSM HSM HSM HSM

Cara was out on her balcony scribbling some lyrics when she heard a guitar playing and a beautiful voice singing. Her eyes wandered to the house next door.

Out on the balcony was a girl about her age. She had dark brown hair that was fixed into a tight bun on the back of her head. She was wearing glasses, a pair of jeans, and a T-shirt that had little colorful hands splattered across it. She was strumming a beautiful wooden guitar, singing a song she'd never heard before.

_You don't know my name_

_You don't know anything about me…_

The girl stopped playing, realizing she was being watched. She stood up with the guitar and ran inside.

"Great now she thinks I'm some crazy stalker." I muttered.

"Maybe because you are." her mother said, Cara jumped not knowing her mother was there.

"A man just moved in with his wife and daughter, I invited them to dinner tonight, play nice." her mother said.

"Don't I always?" she thought to herself. "Hey Mom! Can I invite a friend over?" she hollered, after receiving a yes from her mother, she grabbed her phone and quickly dialed Troy's number.

**Well that's it for the first chapter. I hope you like it, it gets a lot better and there are a bunch of surprises. Please R&R, don't be too harsh, it's my first story in awhile.**

**I want to mention that I added Cara because I kind of needed a girl on the boys side, and I hate the fact that everyone always makes the head cheerleader out to be an idiot or a slut, where as in reality, it's not really like that.**

**Tune in next time to find out how the dinner goes, and discover the surprises.**


	2. Chapter 2

\/p>

-1

"Gabriella Anne! Our new neighbor's have invited us over for dinner, we need to make a good impression." Her father Carlos called.

Gabriella sighed to herself. This whole moving everywhere was all about first impression. She began cleaning up the paints and undid her hair from the tight ponytail, letting her curls fall down her upper back. 

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"So this is the girl?" Troy Bolton asked passing Cara her stress ball.

Cara nodded. "Yep, this is the one, I think you'll like her Troy." she told him whipping the stress ball at him, which he caught with his quick reflexes. "One of these days you'll miss and that ball will hit you in the face."

Troy whipped it back at her, to have her catch it "Touché." he responded with a smirk.

"Carolina! Troy! The neighbor's are here!" a young girl yelled from downstairs. 

"Carolina this is Carlos Montez, and his daughter Gabriella Anne." Mrs. Lynch said while ushering the two inside.

Both Cara and Troy looked in awe at Gabriella. She had dark brown, almost black curls that went down her lean frame. She was a bit short, but not in a weird way. She wore a white lace cami under a long v-neck light blue sweater. Light wash jeans and white flats with a cute belt completed the look.

Cara glanced down at her shirt from Hollister, denim shorts, and flip flops. "She cleans up nice, I wonder where she shops." she thought.

"Whoa." Troy thought. She was, defiantly not the girl Cara had described over the phone. She looked, hot. But not like she was trying to hard.

"Hey, you can call me Gabi if you want." she said with a smile.

"I'm Cara, my names not actually Carolina, sorry about my mother, she's pushy when she's trying to be welcoming. This is Troy Bolton." she said, shoving Troy towards her, then hollering at her mom about something burning.

Gabriella and Troy collided briefly, in literal terms. Their heads smacked together as they collapsed on the wood floor of the entryway. Before Troy could even re-act, Gabriella was holding her head in the corner. 

"I'm sorry about her, are you crying?" Troy asked her reaching softly for his shoulder. He was stunned when her petite hand came out and slapped his arm away, sending a bolt of electricity through both of them.

She looked up and glared through her chocolate brown eyes, before standing up and dusting herself off. She slumped her shoulders and bit her lip before squeezing her eyes shut. She quickly shook it off and headed towards the direction of the kitchen.

Troy followed behind, at a distance in shock. One minute she was happy, then in pain, then angry, then upset, and then she was okay?

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"The lasagna is very nice Mrs. Lynch." Gabriella complimented softly with a smile as Cara handed her a plate of seconds.

"Thank you sweetie, you're welcome to eat over anytime. Lord knows men can't cook." she said looking at her with a smile.

"Hey! I resent that, I can almost boil water by myself now!" Carlos joked.

"Almost being the key word Mr. Montez, almost." Cara piped up, receiving a laugh.

"Gabi can you pass me the salt?" Troy asked. Gabriella's head whipped around and her face became void of emotion, giving him a cold distant look.

She folded her fingers around the salt and stiffened. Cara turned to watch with curiosity and soon Mrs. Lynch and Carlos also looked. She extended her arm shaking towards him across the table, before freezing in mid-air. 

"That's kind of weird," Cara thought

"Is she going to be okay?" Mrs. Lynch asked Carlos.

"Of course." he replied smoothly. "Ella!" he said loudly, to get her attention. 

Gabriella snapped around and dropped the salt, before somewhat jumping. She seemed startled, and scared. 

"It's Gabriella Anne's first day of school tomorrow, we'd best be on our way." Carlos said kindly, as he guided Gabriella swiftly out the front door.

"Troy, you me, room, now." Cara snapped.

"Carolina, sweetie, be safe, always use protection!" her mom hollered.

Cara just looked at Troy and blushed scarlet red as Troy tried to stifle his laughter.

OOOOOOOOO

Gabriella looked across her room. On one wall she had a giant mural of her holding a three year old girl, and sitting next to a girl who looked almost exactly like her. On the opposite wall she had a half chalkboard, half corkboard, for pictures and writing. The other two walls were bare with two buckets of paint. Boxes reached the ceiling of the room.

"Do you want to talk about it?" her father asked unsurely, wondering how his wife did it, girl talks and such.

"No. I. Do. Not." she snarled through gritted teeth, whipping around to face him. "Let's remember whose idea this was, and whose fault this is." she stated, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Ella it was for the best," her father tried.

OOOOOOOOOO

" You hear that?" Cara asked putting the x-box controller down. Troy made a whining noise.

"Call of Duty 3 later, girl now, listen, and don't get caught." she told him dragging him out to her balcony.

"Why are we crouching?" Troy asked.

"So they don't see us." she replied.

"Why are we whispering?" Troy asked.

"So they can't hear us." she replied exasperated.

"Well why are we listening?" Troy asked.

"Never call me Ella again! This move was not for the best! I want Mom! I want Leah! I want Lily!" a voice (which was obviously Gabriella's) screamed.

"I wanted you to have a future!" a different voice boomed.

OOOOOOOOOOO

Carlos Montez slammed the door of his daughter's room with a bang that the whole neighborhood could hear. She scrunched up her face, tensing her muscles. Then she untensed and put on a straight face before pulling her hair up into a bun and changing into sweats.

"New life." she whispered to herself, grabbing her guitar and heading for the balcony.

Gabriella noticed Troy and Cara (who were no longer crouching) standing out on her balcony arguing about something P.E. related.

"Hey Cara!" she said with a smile and a wave, as the two turned to wave to her. "Troy." she said with a nod.

"Listen, I was wondering if maybe you could help me with painting my room, maybe this weekend, if you're not busy." she asked nervously chewing her lip.

"We'd love to, we'll ask our friends to help out too! It'll be fun! Good way to get to know everyone. Of course, only if you'll see a movie with us on Friday." Cara said with a smile.

"Okay, see you at school." she said with a wave before retreating to her room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I like her," Cara stated.

"I don't understand her." Troy stated.

"You will, but don't mess this up, I like her, I have a feeling she's different from the rest." Cara told him before walking inside.

"Gabi." Troy whispered to himself.

**Hi All! Thanks for the amazing reviews! They're all so nice, and even if you're just adding my story! You're the best.**

**So I understand that Gabriella's a confusing character, we still have a lot to learn about her, so be patient, if you don't get it, ask, or do what I do if you're to shy to ask, re-read, lol.**

**Now that Gabriella's been introduced the story will mainly switch off between Troy and her, Cara will fall into the background with the rest of the gang. Although I must say I do like her.**

**Now Two questions for upcoming chapters…**

**Gabi's room is going to have a really unique look to it, but what color should she be painting it?**

**If Troy had a secret want to become something other than a basketball player (or singer, actor type of thing) what do you think it would be?**

**Love it! Review it! Meredith Jane**

\/p> 


	3. Chapter 3

-1

Troy's eyes bugged out of his head that morning. Cara and Gabi were walking, more like strutting up to the school entrance, arms linked, laughing and chattering. Gabi wore blue jeans and an emerald green cami with a gold shrug and gold jewelry.

Another thing Troy noticed was the staring, and the whispers that came along with the staring.

"Look at the new girl, I love her shoes."

"Dude, I have to get with that"

"Why does she get to be friends with the head cheerleader"

"I wouldn't go near her, looks like Troy has already staked that"

"It's her first day and she already gets attention from Troy!"

As soon as Troy heard people whispering about him he turned away and glared at some lowerclassmen, who scrambled away. He noticed some of the gang starting to approach Gabi and Cara, and decided to wander on over.

"Guys, this is my new neighbor Gabi. Gabi this is Chad, the dumb one, Zeke the baker, and Jason the other dumb one. These are the guys who play on the basketball teams starting line up." Cara explained, waving at Troy.

"Chad Danforth, aka, second most popular guy at school, desired by all." Chad said. After seeing her shocked face he laughed. "I'm not that pig headed. I'm Chad, my house backs up to Cara's, not that you can tell because of that really high fence." he told her.

"Why do you think they got that high fence man?" Zeke joked as everyone laughed. "Zeke Baylor, I have to introduce you to my girlfriend, I can already tell that you'll get along." he said shaking Gabi's hand.

Troy's eyebrows raised when she let him shake her hand, and ask about his girlfriend, like they were old friends. "Maybe it's just me?" he thought to himself.

"Troy Bolton." he said offering his hand.

Gabriella stared at his hand, then him, then his hand again before responding with a short "charmed." and turning to talk to Jason about the cafeteria food.

"We'll catch up with you later, we have to get her schedule, and I have to find my boyfriend." Cara announced as the girls linked arms again.

"When you find him tell Shar that I made her those cookies." Zeke responded.

"Will do," Cara replied.

The guys resumed their game of mini basketball outside the school, everything the same except for Troy. Watching Gabi walk off he muttered to himself "This is going to be interesting."

OOOOOOOOOOO

"Carolina Michele! You are late again!" an older woman shouted. Her hair was up done in some crazy French twist, she wore a long shawl and an skirt and shirt with random silk scarf's everywhere. Gabriella was already afraid.

"Actually I was just showing Gabriella the way." she replied bitterly, no doubt because of the Carolina remark. She shoved Gabriella forward a bit as if presenting evidence. Gabriella squirmed under her hawk like look and immediately wanted to jump back behind Cara's back.

Gabriella handed the teacher the papers she had been told to give to her.

"Just what we need in here, another hockey players kid. Welcome to my chapel of the arts. This is homeroom, drama class, and future planning. I expect no talking, fidgeting, coughing, sneezing, breathing loudly, pencil tapping, pen clicking, desk drumming, or feet stomping. No sports equipment what-so-ever. Also giggling, laughing, and staring at the opposite sex is prohibited. You can ask Carolina Michele or Troy Alexander I don't care who your father may be, keep it outside of class. It's a pleasure meeting you Gabriella Nicole." Miss Darbus finished.

Cara snuck away and sat in her seat next to a blonde haired boy, wearing a hat, they turned and grinned at each other when Miss Darbus wasn't looking.

"I like to have all my hockey players kids in the first row, take a seat next to Troy Alexander." she snapped when she realized Gabi was still standing.

"It's basketball." Troy muttered under his breath.

"Your assignment for today is to write on these index cards one fact about yourself that nobody knows. Eventually were going to put them up on the bulletin board and guess. There will be prizes for who can guess the most, and whose nobody guess correctly. Get started, I have to go pick up some paperwork regarding our new student." she announced, leaving the room.

"There she goes to complain to the principal." Sharpay announced pulling out a pink sparkly pen.

"Huh?" Gabriella asked, confused on what had just happened.

"Is your dad by any chance the coach of a major sports team?" Ryan asked her.

"He's the new coach for the Lakers." she responded, surprisingly none of the kids in the first row acted all surprised.

"When she said hockey players kids she was referring to the fact that your dad's a basketball coach." Troy explained, and for once Gabriella settled herself to listen.

"She had all of our parents in this class. Our dad's were the jocks, which she hated. They got away with things because the Principal was a huge basketball fanatic. They drove her crazy. Eventually she just put on with all these rules and made them sit in the first row." Cara explained.

"All of us are kids of the jocks, she absolutely hates us. Cara is never late, but she would use one late to give about a months worth of detention." Ryan explained.

"Who are all of your dad's, what do they do?" Gabi asked, finding this whole thing about the coaches stupid.

"Our dad hired your dad, he owns the Lakers, by the way, Sharpay and Ryan, twins. I'm going out with Zeke, and Ryan is Cara's boyfriend." she explained.

"My dad's a baker, but my mom was head cheerleader during her days here, my parents are divorced. She coaches the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders down in Texas." Zeke said flipping over his note card and trying to glance at Sharpay's.

"My dad is the gym coach here, which apparently still counts, plus Darbus hates him." Troy explained as Gabriella nodded, before turning to Cara.

"Greg is a coach as well." Cara stated shortly.

"Greg is her fathers name." Troy whispered. Unluckily for him Cara heard and whipped around, glaring.

The rest of the class continued in silence until the bell rang, and every note card was handed in.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

"Looks like you're my new lab partner, finally a girl!" the dark skinned girl said with a grin.

"Yeah, I'm Gabi, and I know what you mean, all my lab partners have always been boys. Surprisingly most of the guys I've met could probably never make it into advanced classes, or honors geometry." she said and they giggled together.

"I'm in honors geometry to, 6th hour!" the girl exclaimed.

"Well it looks like we both have Mr. Goldburg." Gabi said with a smile.

"I'm Taylor Mckessie, I can already tell we'll be great friends." she said with a smile. Gabriella smiled back, her first genuine smile in a long time.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Gabi over here!" Chad shouted across the whole cafeteria, earning some stares. She just giggled and dragged her newest friends over to the big table.

The two groups stared each other down, some more than others.

"Gabs can I talk to you," Sharpay asked dragging her away before she had a chance to respond.

"Gabs, listen. People really are kind of firm about groups of friends here. We can't just go around mixing things up. It'll tear the school apart." Sharpay explained.

"That's not fair though, I want to be friends with all of you." Gabriella told her.

"I get it Gabi, and I know Kelisi, she's cool but I can't just go-" Sharpay was cut off as Gabriella walked away, "Gabi? Gabi!" she shouted running after her.

Gabi headed back to the lunch table and was chatting with Taylor and Martha as she saw Troy approaching.

"Troy, what'd you write on your index card?" Gabriella asked him.

"Um, you know what Gabi I'm gonna have to take a rain check on that question, but we could talk about something else, you know?" Troy said scratching the back of his neck while Chad stared with a smirk, nobody had forgotten the bet.

"Well, in that case I can go." she said spinning around to leave.

"Wait, this is the only way you'll talk to me?" Troy asked.

Gabriella nodded, Troy leaned forward and whispered something quietly near her ear.

"I'm deaf in my left ear." she told him, and he whispered it into the other ear.

"Don't get so close to me, just tell me." Gabi told him. Troy told her once again, a little louder.

"What was that? I have bad hearing," she told him with a smile.

"I said I DON'T WANT TO BE A BASKETBALL PLAYER, I WANT TO BE A SINGER!" Troy shouted as the whole cafeteria stopped and stared.

"So the Troy Bolton basketball player, could actually have something in common with the theatre group?" she questioned, a fake look of disbelief on her face.

"I write poetry! Most of it is dark and gothic." Chad announced loudly, while Troy smiled gratefully, happy to have his best friend behind him.

"So then you could go sit at that table and have something to talk about?" Gabi asked, pretending to be astounded.

"I can skateboard! I've been doing it since I was three, I love it!" Cara announced, causing all the cheerleaders and dancers to gasp, their role model and head cheerleader could shred?

"So you could go sit with the skaters?" Gabi asked and the girls began to smile.

"I've always wanted to run for Student Council." Jason admitted and the guys clapped him on the back. He waved at Stacy over at the whole political group table.

"I have a crush on someone outside of my group of friends." Taylor announced, her cheeks a hot red.

"So you like this person and you're not going to go for it? Just because of that?" Sharpay asked.

"Maybe I will get to know him better." Taylor concluded.

"I'm allergic to nuts, but I eat Zeke's cookies because I want to be nice." Ryan told everyone.

"So in reality you should be eating at the food allergy designated table?" Cara asked him.

"I can break-dance." Kelisi admitted.

"I hate football, my dad makes me play"

"I'm in the smart group but I actually have a math tutor."

"I'm a math tutor!"

"I always lie during truth or dare!"

"That girl I pretend not to be related to is my cousin, and she's cool once you get to know her!"

Soon the whole cafeteria was letting everyone know a secret about themselves, the lunch lady was admitting she didn't wash her hands.

OOOOOOOOOO

Gabi shoved the rest of her books into her locker and grabbed her backpack, slamming the locker shut. She slung her messenger bag over her shoulder and prepared to head out.

"Wait!" a voice called running down the hallway.

Gabriella flipped to see Troy and debated against beginning to walk or not. She decided to begin to walk. Luckily Troy was on the basketball team, so it wasn't to hard to catch up.

" Today that was really something. Since you seem to be okay with being friends and all, I was wondering if you wanted to go get-" Troy started.

" No." she replied.

"Gabi," Troy stressed

"Don't call me Gabi, and quit following me." she said bitterly.

"What's wrong? This morning we were cool, now we're not?" he asked, he would never understand the female mind.

"Listen Troy, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from me." she said.

He reached out and grabbed her arm.

Before he knew what was happening she screamed, and her eyes clouded over with fear, she was frozen to the spot, and couldn't see straight. Troy's face was contorting into a face she never wanted to see again through her tears.

"Please let me go." she begged as Troy dropped her arm.

The second he dropped her arm she took off running, catching up with what seemed to be Chad and Cara. Cara noticed her crying and pulled her in for a hug while Chad rubbed her back, and they continued walking in the direction of their houses.


	4. Chapter 4

-1"Are you sure I won't be intruding?" Gabriella asked flipping through Cara's selection of CD's. She had just about every genre up there. Gabriella was nervous, hanging out with friends and people in school was one thing, hanging outside of school was a completely different thing. Especially when it involved your friend, her boyfriend, and yourself.

" Nonsense Gabi, we're watching a movie." Cara stated as she watched Gabi flick through CD's until she found one to her satisfaction. "God damn it, jerk! Turn signals and stop sign's ever heard of em?" Cara shouted rolling down the window, and giving the driver in front of her the finger.

"I just don't want to feel like a third wheel or anything." she explained as music began to fill the car. "Plus in our pajamas?" she asked glancing down at her blue silk panda bear pajamas, luckily not what she normally slept in, which was close to nothing.

"It's not movie night unless you're in pajamas! Besides, we're almost here, it's that big house." Cara said, knowing she didn't need to motion for Gabriella to understand which one the Evan's house was.

They pulled up to a gigantic white brick house with marble pillars. A huge marble fountain with cupids shooting water out of bows was in the center of a wrap around brick driveway. It was surrounded by shrubs and plants, and had ivy climbing up the left side.

"Holy, wow. Um, Cara, isn't that the red truck that you flicked off?" Gabi asked, looking at an old red truck that seemed to have a fresh coat of paint. Cara hopped out of her side of the car and clicked the keys to lock it. She had her over sized t-shirt and long flannel pants on, with her hair in a braid. Gabi was slightly embarrassed to get out of the car in her pajamas.

"Gabs, you can get out it's fine. This is party central of town, people tan topless on their front lawns, nobody will care if you're in your pajamas." Cara informed her dragging Gabi along. "The guy in the red truck is Troy, he sucks at driving and I'm just making sure he's aware there are other people on the road." she said with a smirk as Ryan opened the door and she ran up to him.

"What are you doing here?" Gabi hissed once she glanced over and saw Cara and Ryan kissing, not paying attention.

"I was invited, and believe it or not, didn't know you were going to be here." he replied smugly. "But as long as I am here, I think we should talk." Troy said as the four teens made their way inside, Troy arguing with Cara about his driving skills.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"We're not watching Dan in Real Life, that fifteen year old is named Cara, and she is an insult to all Cara's in the world." Cara stated, tossing the DVD to towards Gabi's face. Luckily Troy reached out and caught it, dropping it on the floor.

"That girl was so you when you were fifteen, how about a horror movie?" Ryan suggested.

"No!" Gabi shouted, causing the other three to turn and stare. "I mean, I don't really like horror." she said with a weak smile.

"How about Pirates of the Caribbean?" Ryan suggested.

"We watched that last week with everyone." Troy pointed out, reaching to catch the case that Cara threw aside.

"Do you have Hairspray?" Gabi asked, and Cara and Ryan shot each other looks and grinned.

"Hairspray it is! Cara, Troy go get the refreshments, I'll start the DVD, Gabi can you call Shar on the intercom, it's the pink button." Ryan directed rubbing his hands together.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"You and Gabi were getting along at school today okay, what happened. Bolton? Do you have a thing for making girls cry?" Cara asked, poking her finger at his chest.

"We were getting along fine, I was asking her to hang out, then she started talking about how we couldn't be friends, I tried to grab her arm to stop her, and she began crying and freaking out. Kind of like you used to." Troy told her.

"You mean back when my dad was…" she trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

"Exactly, do you think she's being abused?" he whispered softly, trying to put puzzle pieces together in his head.

"No, if she was then she would try harder to hide it." Cara sniffed, turning around and crossing her arms.

"I'm the only guy she hates and refuses to come near, do you think it's something I did?" he asked running his hand through his hair. He grabbed the microwave popcorn and began pouring it into bowls.

"Sprite or Coke?" Cara asked poking her head through the door to the next room. "Sprite it is." she said opening the fridge.

"I think that she's afraid to get close to you, and just you. I think there's a reason." Cara pondered.

"Well I have to have her." Troy growled frustrated.

"Is all this about the bet? Gabi is a nice girl, and she's obviously been hurt! Gosh Troy, I thought you were bigger than that, that all the other cheerleaders were wrong. Are you really that much of a son of a bitch!" She shouted, before grabbing the drinks and storming out the best she could without spilling any sprite.

"It's not about the bet, there's something different about her." Troy mumbled before grabbing the popcorn and exiting the room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Troy looked at the clock, it was 12 and the movie had been over a while ago, but everyone was asleep. He figured Cara's mom wouldn't care if she spent the night at Ryan's, but Gabi was a whole different story. From his impressions her dad didn't seem like the nicest guy in New Mexico, that was for sure.

Troy swept Gabi up into his arms and began to head out towards his truck, but not before stopping to look down at her. She looked like an angel when she slept. Her curls hanging loosely down, and brushing up against his arms. Her tiny little fists that had grasped onto his shirts, so she pulled snug against him. He smiled when he noticed she seemed to be smiling in her sleep, her perfect lips curving up a slight bit, into a dreamy smile.

He placed her gently into the passenger seat and buckled her in as he hopped in himself and started the car and pulled out of the Evan's driveway.

Out on the road, he couldn't help glancing at her every few seconds.

"You get any more beautiful and we're going to end up in an accident." he whispered, reaching out to stroke her hair. Then smiling at how soft it was.

Pulling up to the front of the house he sucked in a deep breath before taking her in his arms and ringing the doorbell. He was surprised when a girl who looked just like Gabi opened the door.

"Thank god Gabi," she said smiling at her sister. "Thank you so much," she said to Troy.

Troy was stunned by the appearance of her. She wore dark jeans and a long sleeved dark red shirt with flowing sleeves, her eyes and facial features looked about the same as Gabi's. But she had small freckles and was missing Gabi's dimples. Her hair was also the same color and length but straight.

"You can take her up to her room, it's upstairs, the door on the left." she told him before heading off in a different direction.

Troy carried Gabi like a feather up the stairs and into her room, marveling at how nice it looked, even for a few days. He stopped to look at a large painting done across the wall. He easily spotted Gabi, and saw the girl from downstairs sitting next to her. On Gabi's lap was a little green eyed girl who looked like the older two.

"There you go, sweet dreams." he said placing her on her bed, and tucking her in under her colorful quilts.

"Please don't hurt me." she mumbled, in a voice that sounded like it was still asleep.

"I would never hurt you Gabi." he said and she latched onto his hand. Troy felt a warm tingling sensation where she was holding his hands and ran his other hand over her soft skin.

"I'm sorry we can't be friends." she whispered, making Troy wonder whether or not she was still sleeping.

"Why can't we be friends." he whispered back, praying silently that she would keep talking.

"Because I can't get hurt." she whispered back, snuggling down further in the covers.

"Why would you get hurt?" he asked in an urgent tone, hoping he could get one more answer out of his sleeping beauty.

"Cause I like you." she muttered. She then rolled over, snuggled into bed, and was completely out.

"Gabriella Nicole Montez, I like you to." he said as she let go of his hand.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Gabs, who was that cute guy who brought you home last night?" Gabriella's twin sister Leah giggled, as she piled more blueberry pancakes onto her plate.

"I don't what your talking about," she said squirming under her dad's speculating eye.

Leah just laughed and smiled. "You can't really deny things that happened while you were asleep. He was light brown hair, cute blue eyes, very toned, seemed very into you." Leah described wiggling her eyebrows.

"Lee! Don't talk about him like that!" Gabi chided, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, jealous much, no matter, he was way into you." Leah stated, both girls trying to ignore the fact that their father was turning on the blender, garbage disposal, and trash compacter in an effort to make noise.

"You think so?" she asked.

"Ha! I knew it! You know who I'm talking about and you like him!" Leah squealed. "When do I get to meet him?" she asked.

"All of my friends are coming over today to help me paint my room, I think he'll be there, we aren't really friends or anything." Gabi said as both girls stiffened as their father came to the table, sitting down with nothing.

"Ella, you can't afford to get involved with another boy. You ruined your future with the last one, and I cannot have my reputation tainted once again." Carlos said sternly.

Gabriella and Leah both felt a certain spark go off inside of them at the last time.

"It wasn't my fault." Gabi said softly, avoiding Leah and Carlos's gaze.

"But it could have been prevented, had you been more careful." Carlos said, voice void of tone.

"Papi, that's not fair to her, and you know that her name is Gabi." Leah complained, only to be silenced by her father standing up.

"I'm leaving for work, I'll be gone for a week, Gabi money is on the counter, Leah, your mother will pick you up Sunday afternoon. Watch your sister for me." he said giving Leah a kiss on the cheek, while Gabriella shook her head know and instead got a kiss on the head.

"Behave." he said sternly before leaving.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Gabi's friends were arriving very shortly, and she was greeting and talking to them cheerfully, almost as if the painful memories from breakfast were never brought up. Leah was upstairs in Gabi's room in a black and hot pink sweat suit preparing the paint, and covering the furniture with old sheets.

"How was your date yesterday Shar?" Cara asked smiling as all the other girls turned to listen.

"It was super romantic, he took me a nice Thai food place and then we watched a fireworks show out on the grass at Lava Springs." she gushed.

"I love Thai food!" Taylor and Gabi exclaimed at the same time. "Jinx, you owe me a soda!" both girls shouted.

"What about you Kels, what did you do?" Martha asked and the girls turned to listen.

"I had to baby sit Cara's little siblings, I'm sorry Cara but they are little nightmare's. I went to take the dog out and they locked me outside the house. Ally wouldn't go to sleep without everything she needed and Claire made me carry her up the stairs. Then the twins got into purple kool-aid and died their hair purple!" Kelisi exclaimed laughing.

"I'll get my mom to pay you more!" Cara laughed while everyone around them giggled.

"Chad's here, that's the last of them!" Zeke announced as everyone greeted Chad and tried to rub his afro for good luck.

"Ahem hem!" a girl cleared her throat at the top of the stairs. All the girls and guys stared in awe, having no idea that Gabi had siblings their age, as they would have met them on Friday.

"Oh guys, this is Leah my twin sister. She lives with my mom." Gabi introduced.

"I'm not the only twin anymore! This is so awesome!" Sharpay exclaimed giving Leah a hug. Leah jumped up and down with her.

"Leah, as in West High's new head cheerleading going out with the captain of the basketball team?" Cara asked, scrunching her nose.

"Please, keep the rivalry's in school people!" Jason shouted and got some cheers and nods.

"Yeah, you must be Cara, I loved your halftime routine, who choreographed it?" Leah asked as they all began descending up the stairs, getting to know each other better.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"This purple is gorgeous, dark but not to deep, dark mauve with blue tones." Martha said as the rest of the girls nodded. "I so wish my room was this color."

"Hey Gabs, wanna explain this painting?" Chad asked pointing at the mural.

"Oh, I just did it when I was bored. That's obviously me and Leah, and the girl sitting on my lap is our younger sister Lily." Gabi said.

"She's adorable." Taylor said and everybody nodded.

"Gab's do you have any dancing music? Or maybe singer boy can sing for us!" Zeke chuckled. Everyone else let out giggles, but Zeke patted Troy's shoulder to let him know he was kidding.

"Oh Lord no! Gabi's music is horrible." Leah explained blocking the CD player.

"Define horrible." Kelisi said, while Gabi glared at Leah.

"Well it's defiantly not normal dancing music. It's further back then the Beatles. Just some old guys singing this one song. Something buttercup?" Leah said.

"Build me up." Troy sang quietly and turned when he heard an echo.

"Build me up." Gabi sang softly.

"Buttercup baby just to let me down." he sang

"Let me down." she echoed.

The kids parted and Gabi and Troy approached each other. Leah smirked to herself and hit the play button.

"I need you!"

"I need you!"

"More than anyone else." they sang, and everyone was slightly shocked when Troy tugged Gabi towards him and they began to twirl around the room as the music played.

"Hey Tay, may I have this dance?" Chad asked and Taylor grinned and began to dance. Twirling around the room, soon other couples joined in, nobody caring how ridiculous they looked, and trying to out do each other in looking like fools.

"Troy!" Cara shouted from were she was gently swaying with Ryan, who kept trying to tickle her sides.

Troy glanced over and smiled twirling Gabi outwards, then back in.

"You're forgiven." she mouthed and went back to laughing with Ryan.

But he was even more happy, when he lifted Gabriella and twirled her in the air, and she began to laugh. She had the most wonderful laugh he had ever heard. He wanted to be the person to make her laugh like that.

"Troy?" she asked as the song came to the end and everyone was laughing.

"Yeah Gabriella?" he asked, careful to try to back away whenever she pushed him off.

"It's Gabi, and I guess, we could be friends." she said as she gave him a hug, which he gratefully returned.

**Sorry about the lack of author's note last chapter! I totally forgot! Sorry that third update took awhile, I got really sick, and I was out of town for awhile too. **

**So I hope everyone liked it and that you all keep sending me such wonderful reviews, any reviews at all. These are what make me happy and want to keep going. **

**Just thought I'd mention some little fun facts, cause I'm bored and have nothing else to do.**

**At the beginning of the story I changed my mind about Gabi having a twin sister, but then decided that I might need Leah to help explain things to Troy, like somebody on the inside. Plus without her, there would be no breakfast scene, which I'm hoping will clear up some confusion.**

**Build me up Buttercup is a real song, and it is really old. You should listen to it though, it's not a chart topper but chances are your parents or grandparents knew it as a hit song back in the day.**

**Ally and Claire are my sisters in real life, Lily is also my younger sister's name.**

**The whole twins dying their hair in grape kool-aid happened to me when I was babysitting five year old triplets. I got paid one dollar an hour to watch them and three other kids. I certainly did not get paid enough**

**Last but not least, in the forward chapters we're going to learn about.**

**Gabi's family, past, and old relationships**

**We're going to meet Lily**

**We're going to get into basketball and talk about the bet**

**We're going to discover some drama the grownup's have going on that's going to affect some of the teens relationships.**

**We're going to get to see little peeks of all the other pairs coupling off.**

**Thanks for Reading!**

**Meredith Jane**


	5. Chapter 5

-1Chapter 5

"Explain to me again why we're going fishing?" Gabi asked Troy. They were walking over a grassy hill near a playground, dawdling behind all their other friends up in front of them. She looked at her jeans and purple Zoo York hoodie and shivered.

"Because each week a different person gets to choose what to do, and for some odd reason, Jason always chooses fishing." he told her, passing her his varsity jacket. She gave a small smile and pulled it on, zippering the zipper up as far as it would go.

"How are they all awake at five in the morning?" Gabi asked, astounded that some of them had reached the dock and were bounding to find a good spot.

"Trust me, their not." Troy said with a chuckle as he watched Sharpay get a piggy back ride, and Cara walking next to Ryan, half asleep on his shoulder.

"Okay, we guys will hook the worms, unless any of you girls want to?" Chad asked holding a worm in Taylor's face, causing her to squeal and slap him.

The guys set to work hooking worms on the lines, and getting the bobbers working. There weren't enough fishing poles for everyone, so people began to pair off and find their own spots on the dock.

"So Gabi………….." Troy started.

"So Troy………….." Gabi sighed with a small laugh.

"We're friends now?" Troy asked raising an eyebrow as he helped her drop the line into the water.

"Yes, we can be friends now." she stated, hugging her knees to her chest with a smirk.

"Good, now I can drill you on every aspect of your personal life." he said smiling, as he watched her face pale, and her eyes grow wide. "Gabi, I'm only kidding."

Gabi's complexion turned back to it's normal color and her eyes returned to their sparkling state.

"Let's hear about you, rumor has it you play basketball." she said looking at the sun rising on the horizon.

"I've been playing since I was little, I can't explain it without sounding weird but I'll try. I mean, it takes time away from friends and family, and I have to practice a lot. But it's all worth it, every basket I make you know? It's like stepping foot out on that court, is where I want to be. It sounds stupid, I know but it's just, the love of the game." he finished glancing towards her for her reaction.

"It's not stupid, when you're playing basketball, a part of you is complete, it's like this hole in you is filled up, and you're at the top of your world." she said. "Some people say that love is like that." she whispered.

"I guess it is, I've heard that love is pretty great." he said, feeling uneasy.

"If you love basketball so much, why do you want to become a singer?" she asked him, gazing at his blue eyes, and perfect hair. She blushed and looked away when he caught her staring.

"Because basketball is starting to feel like work, instead of fun you know? It's senior year, and all the pressure of scholarships, it's just training now. Singing is just, something that happens, like when a song comes on the radio. Singing with you was the most fun I've had in awhile." he told her, reaching to brush some hair out of her face, but then stopping himself.

"I got something!" Kelisi shouted, the rest of the group got up and rushed over to where Jason was teaching her how to tug to hook the fish, then reel it in and pull upwards. Troy ran forward to grab the cooler when he heard a yelp of pain.

"Gabi's bleeding!" Taylor shouted as Kelisi revealed a foot long bass, nobody took the time to think how that got into a small little lake, but rushed to Gabi's side.

"Gabi what's wrong?" Cara asked, as the gang tried to access the situation at hand.

"Man, it's her foot." Chad said, indicating to what appeared to be a cut.

Troy gently grabbed her ankle and lifted her foot causing all the gang to grimace, and causing Zeke, who hated the sight of blood, to begin to upchuck into some water off the other edge of the dock. Embedded into her foot were about three fishing hooks.

"Who knows first aid?" Ryan asked, to see Taylor, Troy, and Gabi raise there hands. The gang chuckled slightly as Gabi managed to smile and raise her hand.

"Okay, we're going to need a towel, a washcloth, some hot water, tweezers, and a bucket might help." Taylor announced.

"I have tweezers, and I have some hot water I was saving to make coffee with…." Sharpay announced as the gang glared at her. "Which I would gladly donate to this which is ten times more important." she finished causing the gang to smile slightly.

"I have some towels, I was planning to push Chad in later." Cara announced running off to get her towels ignoring Chad's protests of "what did I do?"

"We have buckets that were for fish and worms, but never got used, we'll get two so we won't need a washcloth." Kelisi said rushing over to get them.

Soon Gabi was laying down on the dock with a towel folded under her head. Her leg with the hurt foot was bent and in the hot water, the other bucket was laying by the side of my head.

"Okay Gabi, the water has softened the skin in your foot so we can get the hooks out, now do you want me to do it, or Troy?" Taylor asked Gabi.

"You." she whispered, her eyes squeezed shut in pain, Troy felt his heart sink a bit before he heard "Troy can you hold my hand?" in her meek voice.

"Sure thing." he said sliding up behind her and putting her head up on his lap, before grabbing her hand and kissing it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Girls, why don't you take Gabi to the playground while we gut the fish, trust me you don't want to see this." Zeke told them, as they squealed and ran away, Taylor managing to carry Gabi, whose foot was bandaged.

"Why is Cara still here?" Jason asked, noticing Cara sitting with Ryan's arms around her.

"Because we're talking about the bet and Cara was apart of it, Get your head in the game man!" Chad said slapping his back, as they all took seats around the picnic table. Most of the guys slouching tiredly, while Cara was pretty much asleep.

"Let's review, Chad bet a hundred that Troy couldn't get Gabi to sleep with him by the class trip, which is in May, it is now March. Ryan bet two hundred that Troy could indeed land Gabriella in that time." Zeke said rubbing his hands together before beginning to gut the fish.

"Eh, Gross, that smells. You can gut a fish, but you can't manage to see blood?" Cara asked him, burying her head in Ryan's shoulder.

"Guys, Gabi is obviously not some bone headed cheerleader." Troy said receiving a slap from Cara. "Maybe we should let this one go." he said earning a nice pat from Cara.

"Dude, we've never let a bet go." Jason said, the other guys nodding in agreement, Ryan getting slapped by Cara as a message of "don't be an ass, stay out of it"

"Well, if you're going to admit your actually falling for Gabi." Chad said, in somewhat of a taunting voice.

"Troy Bolton doesn't fall in love, he goes to parties, he does cheerleaders, he's got his reputation and ours to uphold." Zeke pointed out.

Troy glanced at the hilltop where the girls were sitting and hanging out. Gabriella was laughing her beautiful laugh as she and Taylor tried to toss each other grapes and catch them in their mouths at the same time. Gabriella's grapes kept bouncing off her noise, causing her to laugh and begin chucking them a Taylor, and soon they were all involved. Troy smiled to himself as he saw Gabi try to hide behind tiny little Kelisi to avoid Sharpay's wrath.

"Troy couldn't have fallen for her, he always promised he never would fall for anybody, not his style." Chad announced, snapping Troy out of his thoughts.

"Maybe Troy grew up! Maybe he's changed, come on Troy. Gabriella's good for you, drop the bet, you can still be Troy Bolton without sleeping around." Cara said, standing up in an alert way. "The bet's over right, you're not going to hurt her right?" she said, practically pleaded.

Troy felt something flash through him, "It's one girl Cara, nobody's going to change me, if you couldn't what makes you think she will, the bet is on." Troy announced, a new determination. It was to late to change, it was senior year, he had to become the great basketball player everyone wanted, and graduate and get to college. No girl could change that.

"Ryan, tell me your not apart of this." Cara demanded, pulling something out of her sun bag.

"Maybe for once I want to be one of the guys to what they're doing." he suggested coolly, as the guys gave him nods and pats on the back.

"Hey Zeke, those are part of the fish we aren't using right?" Cara asked, before Zeke could answer she grabbed the access fish guts (EW!) and dumped them over Ryan.

"We're over!" she shouted before marching up to the girls, who immediately wrapped their arms around her, even though she wasn't crying.

But Cara wasn't crying and she wasn't hugging them back, she wasn't even talking. Instead, she just wrapped her arms tightly around Gabi and whispered into her ear "I'm sorry."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Ma, Dad, I'm home." Troy called out, his voice filling the empty house. He followed a shuffling sound up into his parents room. His mom sat on their cream covered bedspread, staring around at the room blankly.

"Ma," Troy said approaching her and trying to give her a hug, to be held back.

"How long did you know?" she whispered softly. Troy squeezed his eyes shut in preparation for what was coming.

"Know what?" he asked, trying to pretend he didn't know what she was talking about, that he was as clueless as she had been.

"How long have you known!" she shouted, and he tried to grab her hand, but she pushed him away once more.

"I got a phone call from Carolina Lynch today. She thought that I deserved to know that my husband was being unfaithful to me, Carolina is a good friend of yours, you spend more time at her house and Chad's then you do at our own house. So I'm going to ask you one more time, how long have you known?" she hissed.

"Since the beginning." he told her. What happened next surprised both him and his mother. Her hand flew across her face, feeling like fire against his cheek.

"You just, you-" he stammered. His own mother had just slapped him, right across the face. Not in a scolding way, but in a hateful way, and Troy was being torn apart.

"Get out!" she screamed rushing him to his room, where she grabbed a duffle bag, and pushing him down the stairs and out of the front door.

"Out!" she screamed.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Where's Cara?" Troy asked not bursting through the Lynch's front door.

"Troy hunny, you're right on time, your father and I wanted to talk to you-" Mrs. Lynch said but was cut off when Cara's red face appeared through the doorway.

"You!" Troy shouted lunging at her, before being caught back by his father.

"Troy calm down, this has nothing to do with her, Mrs. Lynch and I made a mistake, you just have to accept that there's nothing we can do about it now." he said calmly.

"Your father leaves, so you have to find a way to get another one huh? Well guess what?! It worked, my family has been torn to pieces because of you, you little bitch! I will kill you! Maybe your dad left for a reason you slut!" He screamed, pulling himself out of his father's grasp and heading out the front door.

"Troy! It's not like that! I didn't mean to!" Cara screamed, trying to chase after him. He pushed her back onto the ground with all of his strength.

"Never come near me, or my friends, ever again." he hissed, leaving her sobbing on the sidewalk.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Hello?" Gabriella asked opening her front door. She was shocked when she saw Troy there, shaking with anger, and sobs.

" Oh my god, Troy!" she reached out to touch him but had her hand slapped away. She looked at him in fear and he looked right back, before he broke down in tears.

"I'm sorry Gabi." he whispered pulling her to him, and breathing in the scent of her hair. She knew right then that she was getting in to deep, that she should pull away, or tell him to leave. But one look in his eyes, his shattered eyes, made her hug him back.

"Come on in Troy, you can stay here tonight." she whispered as she grabbed his duffle and began to lead him up the stairs.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

**Thanks for reading! I know, quite a dramatic chapter, I hope nobody is too confused (except for on the part with the parents, that was meant to be confusing and leave you hanging) but if you have any questions just PM me.**

**More importantly are reviews, I'm not one to beg for reviews, and I pride myself for that, but I think that I need some reviews after this chapter.**

**I need to know what confused you, what parts you liked, how it made you feel, and what you think should be explained or come up in the next chapter. I basically need reviews to make sure that people are reading. So take a second and drop a line, it would help.**

**That's really all I can say without giving to much away, in the next update any confusion about Troy's parents and Cara's mom will be explained, school and friends will be split in half, and everyone finds out a secret about Gabi. We will also see our first couple pairing off next chapter! Review for who you want it to be!**

**Meredith Jane**


	6. Chapter 6

-1Chapter 6

"Troy, wake up." a voice hissed, as a small soft hand shook his arm. He wondered vaguely where he was, and why his mother wasn't trying to drag him from his bedroom. Then it hit him, his mom had slapped him (which still slightly stung) and kicked him out, Cara told her about how their parents had been, and still were involved, he'd tried to kill Cara, and knocked her down on the sidewalk. He sighed and screamed inwardly.

Troy Bolton was usually a morning person, he usually took a run before school. He arrived at school early to catch up with Chad, and play some one on one. He made himself breakfast, and took a fresh shower, he chatted with random girls and his friends around the fountain. He actually got up and enjoyed it. Troy Bolton, was the dictionary definition of

Troy Bolton wanted to curl up in the bed he was in, and die. He didn't want to move, eat, or even think about his life. So he decided to ignore the voice, and the shaking of his arm, which he could hardly feel anyways.

"Troy, we have school. Get up!" the voice hissed, both small hands shaking him. School, where his father was the gym coach. He wasn't sure if he had gym this fine Monday, but it didn't matter to him. His life was gone.

"I'm not going, I'm dying." he mumbled, grabbing the hands and rolling over, pulling somebody over his body and next to him.

"Let me go! Let me go, let me go, please let me go!" the voice shouted, and a small fist met Troy's nose. It didn't hurt to much, but it got his attention and he recognized the voice and was soon wide awake and alert.

"Huh, what? Gabi? Hey are you okay?" Troy asked, releasing Gabriella, who had tears in the corners of her eyes, and was shaking. Her face was red and blotchy as if she was going to burst out crying any minute. Troy grabbed her and pulled her into his arms, and she sobbed on his shirt. At first she tried to pull away, but Troy held tight and eventually she was just shaking in his arms.

"I um, get ready." Gabriella explained, biting her lip after about a minute or so after crying. Troy ran his hand through his hair and grabbed his duffle bag in search of what he was going to wear.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I'll drive you today." Jack Bolton announced, pulling Cara in towards him for a quick hug. She nodded into him before pushing her plate of pancakes into the trash, hoping her mom would think she ate them all.

The last thing Cara needed was a hug from Jack Bolton, Father of the guy who gave her a huge bruise. She didn't blame Troy for this, or herself, or Jack Bolton and her mom's one year old twins. She blamed Jack Bolton and Michele Lynch themselves, for stupid decision making.

"Okay girls, be good for Uncle Jack, he's going to take you all to school, Now Cara, the twins are going to be hanging around with you and Jack today at school, I need you to watch them, can you handle that?" Mrs. Lynch asked giving Cara's two younger sisters kisses on the cheeks.

"We'll be fine." Jack reassured her, beginning to pack the kids into the car.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Dude, what happened yesterday with Cara?" Chad asked, rushing up towards Troy near the fountain at the front of school. Gabriella stood solemnly next to him, but a bit closer than she usually would. To most people it would seem strange, almost like she was trying to protect him. But Troy was grateful that she was there.

"Not important man, besides, Ashlee saw it, she lives across the street. I'm sure she's filled in the whole student body by now." Troy grunted, glancing over in the direction where Cara was standing with Sharpay, Taylor, and Martha.

"Twoy!" a small voice yelled, and the student body quieted as a little girl, who only seemed to be one, ran over and attached herself to Troy's legs. He smiled inwardly seeing her dressed in a red and white little dress.

"Hey Katie. Gabriella, this is my younger sister Katie, she's one year old, her twin brother Kevin's over there, he can't walk yet." Troy explained quickly, hoping for no further questions.

"She looks just like you." Gabriella said softly as Katie reached out for her, and then snuggled into Gabi's arms. Katie had Troy's same hair, and tiny little athletic body, but she didn't have his eyes. But Gabi knew those eyes, they belonged to his dad, whom Gabi had met, seeing he coached P.E. which was Co-ed.

"Hey man, is it true your mom found out about the twins? Hey Kay." Zeke said as he strolled over, poking Katie on the nose. She giggled and squirmed in Gabi's arms. Troy rolled his eyes. Everybody knew about the twins it's not like they were a big secret. Even Troy's mom knew them, and had met them. Most people knew they were also Jack Bolton's children. His mom had just always denied. Troy secretly thought that his mom knew the whole time, but that Cara had said something that caused her to blow up.

"Hey, I heard what happened Troy. I'm sorry." Ryan said as he strolled over. He seemed unaffected by the fact that his girlfriend since Junior year (same amount of time Zeke and Sharpay have been dating) he glanced at her and looked away, seeming unfazed. Troy didn't know why, but even though he was mad he wanted to punch Ryan's face in for treating the girl who was practically his little sister like that. Not even caring that she might be hurt.

"Why aren't the girls coming over here?" Zeke asked Ryan, who'd been talking to his sister minutes earlier. Troy wanted to groan at Ryan's response, like he needed the whole student body knowing his problems. But being the captain of the basketball team, and the problem involving the head cheerleader, he knew that the whole school probably knew by now.

"Yesterday Cara told my mom that Mrs. Lynch's babies, were also my dad's. I went over her and confronted her about it, but it got out of hand, I ended up saying some bad stuff. I kind of shoved her down on the sidewalk." Troy said, feeling guilt seep through his mind for the first time. He looked over to see Gabriella's reaction, but there was none, she was just tickling Katie. He didn't want Gabi to think he was some kind of guy who hurt girls.

"We'll stand by you man, but she's like our sister, so in time, you two better be forgiving each other for whatever shit you got yourselves into." Chad said, the rest of the guys nodding in agreement. Troy blew out a deep breath, he knew he should apologize, and he would, but he didn't want to be the one to apologize first.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Class, today we are going to write, where's my front row? Where are my hockey player kids?" Miss Darbus asked, throwing her hands up in the air in despair. She paced back and forth across the room in her heels, flinging her arms up every now and then, muttering nonsense to herself.

"Miss Darbus, your honor, they're basketball players kids." Chad told her, only to receive some stares, and a menacing glare.

"William Chadforth! Do not utter those words in my chapel of the arts, my sanctuary of the sacred, my house of…Well there you are! Gabriella Nicole, Troy Alexander! Detention! Today after school, 3 sharp, don't be tardy!" she screeched, as Gabi and Troy hurried into their seats.

"But Miss Darbus Sir! Err, Ma'am, Troy has basketball practice after school today!" Jason announced.

"What have I said about those words Jason Leigh! If you do not take your education-" Miss Darbus rambled.

"I'm not going to practice man." Troy told him, while noticing the door opening.

"Ryan Otis, Zekilah Isaac, detention, three sharp, don't be late our I will-" Miss Darbus began but the door opened again.

"Carolina Michele! Sharpay Rose! You will all be joining me in detention! Now I want all of you to get started, writing me a paper of your favorite memory in your life. Double spaced, typed, proper grammar, if you don't have a computer then go to the library, it's not that difficult and remember to, Carolina Michele who are those children?" she asked as some of the class take out their pencils and began to write.

"Oh um, I have a note, They're coach Bolton's kids, and they're supposed to stay with me and him today." Cara said gesturing at Troy before pulling out a note.

"The principal has gone to far, I will not allow children who can't even say arts in my chapel of arts!" she screeched, stalking out the door and slamming it behind her.

"Art." the little boy said, causing some of the class to laugh. He looked pretty much just like Cara, the blonde hair, and dark blue eyes, only more of what an athletic build on a one year old would look like. Katie ran over to settle herself on Troy's lap, astonishing most of the class.

"Way to involve him in your problems." Ryan hissed at Cara, quite loudly, causing most of the class to stare. She just held her brother closer and looked down at her feet. The guys bit their lips, they knew that Cara didn't like confrontation, especially with guys.

"Ryan, stop acting like this whole thing is her fault, if you hadn't been such a jerk, it's possible none of this would have happened. Plus I didn't see her trying to beat the living crap out of him." Sharpay stated, causing Troy to look down.

"Twoy, did you herwt Arwa?" (Troy did you hurt Cara?) the boy, Kevin asked, snuggling himself onto Cara's lap. The whole class, including Cara looked up and turned to hear Troy's response, but avoided Troy's eyes, another sign that she was really insecure about this whole thing.

"Kev, who told you to ask that, Sharpay or Cara?" he asked with a nervous chuckle. His whole mind wondering what everyone would think, it's not like he hit a girl, but he did break guy code, which was never to hurt a girl.

"I made it up myself, I'm one!" he exclaimed holding up one finger. The class then turned their heads to Troy to see his response. While some of the girls, including Sharpay, awed at Kevin's response. Gabriella nodded, he was very good at talking for one, Katie seemed to be very good at walking, and could even run. Probably a basketball star, a head cheerleader, and someone with Mrs. Lynch's cooking skills in the making.

"No seriously, who told you to ask?" Troy asked, feeling the room get hotter as all eyes were on him. He figured Gabriella probably liked kids, and he didn't want his rep to go down for this.

"I'm one, I can ask by myself!" he exclaimed towards Troy.

"Kev, was it Cara or Sharpay?" Troy asked impatiently

"Kneever (neither) , I asked myself, I'm one." he told Troy.

"Cara or Sharpay?" he asked again.

"I'm one years old!" he exclaimed causing Sharpay and Cara to roll their eyes and say "Troy! He's one year old, he can ask by himself!"

"This is stupid." Gabriella stated. The whole class looked up at her, her hair in a side ponytail, wearing Capri's, flip flops, and a tank top with pointy hearts all over, but mostly looking tired. Tired she was, tired of pacing up and down her hallway nervous about having a guy in her house and worried about what she could do to help Troy.

"You guys, this was your parents dumb decision, not your's, put this argument on the backburner." she told them. Cara inwardly sighed, this was her mom's stupid choices. Troy felt the same about his dad, but could they really just forgive each other that easily?

"Troy, you were wrong to push Cara and jump to conclusions. Cara, you were wrong to try to get back at Troy using his parents. I bet both of you don't even know what happened and you're blaming each other, Grow up." she said. Troy suddenly straightened up in his seat, giving Gabi his famous smile, grateful for helping both him and Cara out.

"She's right, you guys can be pissed at your parents together." Taylor said. The other's nodded in agreement before going back to writing their papers and flirting.

"I'm sorry Troy, that was really low of me to do." Cara told him, tears in her eyes. Cara knew deep down that she was more to blame, and that she'd stooped to a new low, and had in fact been, a bitch.

"No, it's not your fault, I'm sorry for pushing you, are you hurt?" Troy asked. Their eyes connected and they both smiled inside, knowing that they had forgiven each other, and at the end of the day, things would be okay.

"The girl who can play tackle football with the guys, bruised? Maybe my ego, or pride and dignity. But nah, we're cool." she said with a smile.

"That was absolutely touching!" a voice boomed, causing all the kids to shut up and get writing "Hockey player kids, Taylor Anne, William Chadforth, Jason Leigh, and Kelisi Elizabeth you all have Saturday school! Hockey player kids for playing Dr. Phil, and the rest of you for flirting! Class dismissed, get out!" she hollered, pointing a boney finger towards the doorway, where the class filed out of the room.

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"I've never had detention before." Gabriella told Troy as they walked down the hallway towards her locker.

"Um, well I wish I could say the same thing." Troy told her laughing as she spun the combination to her locker. "Is it cool if I stay with you a little longer, you know, while I'm pissed at my dad?" Troy asked casually, heart screaming for a yes.

"I don't know Troy." Gabriella said sucking in a breath. She couldn't get involved with another guy, she knew that. Her and Troy were just friends, but he wanted to be more, and she would be lying if she said she didn't also. He was figuring out how to break down her barriers, and she didn't know how much longer she could hold them up, before she crashed down and told him, everything.

"Please Gabi, I promise I won't scare you." he begged. Troy wanted to know what that was about though. Sometimes it's like she forgot who he was and became scared that he might hurt her. Troy suddenly found that he had a desire to know everything about her, so he could protect her from anything.

"My dad's away coaching in LA for a week, you can stay until he comes back." she said, caving in to what both what Troy wanted, and what she secretly didn't mind. She grabbed her books and they headed off to the PAC (Performing Arts Center)

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"Where's Darbus?" Zeke asked walking into the PAC, which was dark except for a spotlight shining on the stage. It was bricks, and was designed so you could hear easier off the stage without the use of microphones. It had dark velvet seats, and the one spotlight seemed to bring down glitter along with the light.

"Maybe if we're lucky someone locked her in a broom closet!" Cara exclaimed, causing the others to chuckle. Everyone was happy that Cara was back to her normal self, they were also hoping that she was right and had been locked in a broom closet.

"Or maybe I'm right here Carolina Michele." Miss Darbus snapped, flicking the light switch. Cara gulped seeing Miss Darbus over her shoulder.

"Or maybe if we're even luckier she's safe and sound." she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes. What was the worst that could happen, she had detention and Saturday school already. She figured she might as well be sarcastic and enjoy it.

"Sets need to be painted, it's easy, it's like paint by numbers, don't spill paint, I would rather you get it on yourselves then on the floors and walls. I have a conference call to take, but I will be back. No playing doctor Phil, or talking." Miss Darbus announced, before strolling out of the room as the door closed with a loud bang.

"She's not coming back." Sharpay stated, as they descended down to grab something to paint. "My outfit is going to be ruined!" she declared, looking at her pink sparkly halter top and white shimmer pants, and her hot pink heels and accessories.

"You know we're wearing clothes to!" Cara exclaimed trying to pry the lid of the green paint for a tree. She looked down sadly at her lavender cami with lace and small beads sewn in with her jean jacket and mini jean skirt and flip flops.

"It's a very good thing you're all wearing clothes, now Shar, you wanna help me paint whatever the hell this is supposed to be?" he asked as all the teens turned to look at it. There was what looked like a star on top, but most of the numbers were calling for different shades of pink. Sharpay kneeled down and began to flirt and laugh with Zeke as he began to pry the lids off of pink paint.

Soon everybody was situated, Troy and Gabriella painting a moon, Zeke and Sharpay painting the weird pink thing, Cara painting the leaves of the tree while Ryan painted the bottom. Everybody was trying to hold back snickers, as every once in awhile Cara would drip some of her paint onto Ryan's white hat, then go back to painting when he would look up.

"What's your favorite color?" Gabriella asked Troy as they dabbed blue onto the moon.

"Blue, why?" Troy asked, dipping his finger in blue paint.

"Well I think since your going to be living with me for a week, I should at least know a couple things about you, and a persons favorite color tells a lot about who they are." Gabriella explained, trying to make conversation that could in no way turn into flirting.

"You have something on your face." Troy told her, making a blue dot on her nose, causing her to giggle. Troy couldn't help but smile and laugh with her. "There, now you look beautiful." he told her. Gabi smiled inwardly. Anything she said with this guy could turn into flirting, but that was one of the many things she liked about him.

"You're saying I didn't look beautiful before?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow. The back of her mind telling her to quit while she's ahead, and began listing off reasons not to get involved with Troy. She eventually told her head to shut up, as the rest of her body over took.

"Nope, you just got more beautiful, which I didn't even think was possible." Troy whispered softly in her ear, both taking note that Gabi was practically in Troy's lap. Troy knew that he should back away, or back down. Take things slowly for whatever trauma Gabi had dealt with in the past, but what Gabi said next turned that part of his brain off.

"You know I've never been kissed?" Gabi whispered, feeling Troy's hot breath on her face, sending shivers up and down her spine. At this point, all parts of both of them telling them to stop shut down.

"Yeah, why not?" he asked pulling her closer slightly, not enough to scare her. He brushed a curl out of her face so he could look into her eyes, which were twinkling with something he'd never seen before. Whatever it was, he loved it, and it was beautiful.

"Waiting for the right guy." she whispered, shifting slightly closer to him, and grabbing onto his arms so she wouldn't fall off his lap. Sparks were shooting up and down their arms, and their breath on each other's faces was sending shivers through them.

"Yeah." he asked breathlessly as she nodded slightly and licked her lips. Troy inwardly groaned, her soft pink lips, which probably tasted like, whatever kind of lip gloss she was wearing. Troy really wanted to find out what kind of lip gloss that was. They were both leaning in until Troy turned his head at the sound of a crash. Gabi hit his cheek disappointed, before scrambling off his lap.

"I'm so sorry Troy, I don't know what I was thinking, I, you know, we can't." she looked like she was about to cry, but she also had a desperate sort of look in her eyes, one that Troy could tell really wanted to kiss him. Troy swore that he would kill whoever it was later, after this he didn't know when his last chance would be.

Just as Gabriella started to realize that she couldn't do this, couldn't be friends with Troy, that it would never work, that it would always be to much, she snapped out of it to see Ryan and Cara fighting.

"What are you doing?!" Ryan hollered. Troy wanted to let out a laugh, Ryan was covered in Green, which did not look good on him. By now his hat had a nice little composed pile of green paint resting on the top, but his pink polo shirt (had to match his sister, some things never change) was now green on the front side, the right shoulder, and some of the backside of his shirt. His pants were also covered.

"Painting a tree, what does it look like I'm doing?" Cara snapped. It was somewhat ruined by a smile that she tried to hide, probably quite proud of herself for accomplishing that much damage by accident.

"Why is there half a bucket of paint on my hat, and now a whole bucket over my shirt?" he asked her, in a voice that screamed anger, causing Cara to flinch slightly, before steaming with anger.

"Whoa, Ryan calm down." Troy said trying to pull him away from the tree. Cara was going to blow up at him, and they all really had better things to do.

"It was an accident, you think I'd just push a bucket of paint on you?" she screamed, rushing over to confront him, only to have Sharpay hold her back, reassuring her he's not worth it. Gabi turned to Troy to notice that he was looking at her with a longing look on her face. She sucked in a breath and turned away.

Ryan grabbed his bucket of brown paint and chucked the left over paint at Cara, drenching her clothes. Cara scrunched up her face in anger and they both started to shout at each other about how stupid one was to go out with the other. Sharpay finally grabbed her brother and tugged him towards her and Zeke, while Troy grabbed Cara's arm and shoved her between Gabi and him, much to Gabi's dislike, as she wanted to walk next to Troy, although she knew she shouldn't.

"Look guys, Detention ended thirty minutes ago, let's just leave, walk away, scram." Troy said looking at his watch, and glancing over to check on Gabi, then Cara, who was still bubbling mad with anger.

"Told you she wouldn't be back." Sharpay muttered as they headed for the door. Sharpay had light pink paint on her hands, while Zeke had hot pink paint on his hands. But around Sharpay's neck, face and hair she had hot pink paint. Where as Zeke had light pink paint around his neck and face. Both clothes were also colored in those colors. No doubt about what they had spent their time doing. Sharpay was right about one thing, her clothes, and almost everyone else's, were ruined.

"Gabi, why do you have paint on your nose?" Cara asked, while Gabi flushed embarrassed. She realized once again that she was in over her head, and tried to keep her thoughts from straying to what his lips would've felt like.

"Well Troy and I-" Gabi started before she was interrupted again by Cara.

"I wasn't done asking the question. I know why you have paint on your nose, I saw. The question is, why do you have paint on your nose, that somehow managed to find it's way over to Troy's cheek?" she said with a sly smile. Gabi blushed before thinking of an excuse to leave.

"I'm gonna run to my locker real quick," Gabi said rushing off to her locker to grab some books, and contemplate about what she was going to do with Troy in her house, in a room that was just down the hall from hers.

"You should teach her how to lie better." Cara commented. After seeing Troy's confused look she continued. "Her locker is next to Chad's, which is down that hallway." Cara said pointing in the direction opposite of which Gabriella ran. Troy rolled his eyes and prepared for the question, hoping he wouldn't have to tell the whole story in depth.

"Did you kiss her?" Cara asked him. Troy rolled his eyes at Cara's question, not that he'd expected any less. Whether or not she was involved in the bet she had always been somewhat involved and interested in Troy's relationships, he guessed she was like a sister to him after all.

"No I turned to hear what you were shouting about and she got my cheek, hence the blue paint." he told her, with a slight blush on his cheeks. He hoped Cara wouldn't notice the blush, but knew she would, and prepared himself for yelling about how stupid this bet was.

Cara smiled, noting the blushing, and how Troy had never blushed over a girl before. She was right about Gabriella, and she made a good choice picking that girl on the balcony playing guitar. Troy knew that if they got together Cara would always be telling the story of how she introduced them, and all that other shit.

"Don't worry, it'll happen." she reassured him with a smile.

"Why are you supportive all of a sudden?" he asked, his smile faltering, with Cara you never really knew. Cara looked down at her brown stained skin and clothes, sucking in a breath. She remembered when she first met Troy, and when he'd held her when she cried over her dad, and when they'd dated, she remembered tackle football and sparklers on forth of July.

"Because I know you Troy, and I know in the end you'll do the right thing." she said as Gabriella ran up, instead of standing between them, Cara walked slightly behind them, leaving them to chat the whole way home, and wonder what the night at Gabi's house would bring.

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**Okay I really need reviews on this one, because I worked really hard on it. In fact, I need reviews in general to keep me going. I'm confident that this was okay, but at the same time I didn't like it, and I need to know if I cleared up enough confusion to move on forward.**

**I with held this chapter longer then necessary in the hopes of more reviews, if I don't get enough reviews I won't be updating daily like I have been. So send a short review, you people are the only people I actually talk to now a days, except for hospital staff, but I hate talking to doctors, they think they know everything.**

**The next chapter is total Troyella, and who knows what could happen after that scene, and what will Troy find out about Gabi's past. So for everybody who has been patiently waiting, I wouldn't say their getting together, but I would say they are getting closer and closer, and that you don't want to miss the upcoming chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

-1Chapter 7

Gabriella tapped her pencil lightly to her chin, before nibbling the back of the eraser. Realizing what she was doing, she stopped and went back to the math problem she was on.

She peered out her window, that peered over to Chad's house, where Cara was staying. She had offered Cara to stay at her house for awhile, but she had insisted that her taking Troy in was enough, and was staying at Chad's. As far as she knew Chad had a lot of younger and older siblings, she couldn't help but feel bad.

But at the same time, Gabriella was secretly doing a happy dance. It was just her and Troy, and she really wanted to get to know him, be around him. Not all guys could be the same as "Jerk dude" (as Leah had dubbed him) Chad and Zeke weren't the same, and Troy wasn't the same either.

Troy, he was nice, and sweet. He had a cute smile and by god, that boy was gorgeous. His hair, and his eyes, his eyes spoke wonders on their own. She could get lost in them for hours. She knew she couldn't afford to fall for another guy, but Troy wasn't just another guy.

But her father, she didn't want him to be upset, he was already disappointed in her. She eventually wanted to be able to talk to her mother again. Her family was important to her. But it seemed like she couldn't have a guy, and her family at the same time.

"Why can't life just be like a math problem? Three plus seven equals ten. It's always going to equal ten, it's just uncomplicated like that! I mean, why does real life have to be so complicated, there aren't specific solutions to problems that you wish you could solve! I'm going to go insane if I can't be with him, but I can't, the last time I let my guard down. I can't get hurt, but Troy wouldn't hurt me right? But he hurt Cara, not in the same sense but still. Maybe I should become a nun, give up guys!" she fumed.

"Talking to yourself?" Troy asked as he popped his head in through the doorway. She was only wearing a tank top and short little boxers, with her hair pulled up in a loose ponytail. He caught his breath as he watched her turn towards him. She was slightly flushed, and breathing heavily from her rant, she looked kind of like she had just-bad thoughts, bad thoughts Troy!

"Um, just trying to do my math homework, I'm a very um verbal learner, instead of visual." she stammered, heat rising to her cheeks as he smirked his signature Troy Bolton smirk. "You know, talking out the math problem? That sort of thing." she finished, putting a hand on her hip and running her hand through her ponytail.

"Okay, well I'm just making macaroni for us if that's okay with you?" he asked, as she blushed nodding. He was still chuckling somewhat when he said "Oh, and, it might help if you picked up the sheet of paper and read the problem." he grabbed the paper down by his foot and handed it to her. Which she blushed while taking.

Gabi grabbed her navy blue razor phone and pressed speed dial 2. She heard a catchy pop song playing in the background and rolled her eyes. Her sister not only made sure that she had a cool ring tone, but that everyone who called her knew it.

"Heylo, Leah speaking," Leah said, her voice bouncing into Gabi's ear. She rolled her eyes at her sister's use of language.

"Hey sis, I need advice." Gabi told her, checking near the door to see if Troy was anywhere nearby.

"This is why I love having you as a sister, you never know what to do! But not in a bad way of course, I mean that as a compliment. Well, not a compliment, but more of a not insult. You know what I'm saying? I'm just glad that you have someone to come to for advice on anything in your personal life." Leah chattered. Gabriella had to listen to every single sound her sister made in order to make out what she was saying. Leah was the fastest talker she knew.

"Well it's about Troy, you see." Gabriella started into the phone, then smacked her head when Leah cut her off.

"Oh my god! Gabi has a boyfriend! Gabi has a boyfriend! No mami not my sister Gabi, a different one, from school. So Gabs, what's the problem?" she asked in a giddy voice.

"Actually he's not my boyfriend, he's just living with me for awhile and-" Gabriella mentally kicked herself when Leah cut her off, once again.

"Gabriella Montez, you have a boy living with you! Does Papi know about this? No Mami, it's a different Gabriella Montez, no I'm not lying and if you're going to listen in on my phone calls of course you won't get the whole story! Privacy! Uh, I'll be in the bathroom! Anyways, Gabi, what are you doing?" Leah asked, slamming the bathroom door and starting the shower so nobody would listen at the door.

"If you would just let me finish!" Gabi stated, rubbing her head. This was the downside to getting advice from Leah, it would usually be a good fifteen minute wait before you actually got real advice.

"Hey Gab, you talking to yourself again? Because-" Troy started causing Gabi to jump, tossing the phone onto her lap. She growled somewhat.

"Troy! I do not talk to myself! I'm on the phone, now get out of my room, and Leah if you would just listen to my god damn problem, I swear you are all so! Get out of my room!" Gabi screamed, both at Troy, and into the phone.

"Okay, dinner's ready though." Troy said leaving, giving her a smile that made her turn pink in her cheeks. Troy rolled his eyes, girls. Troy thought it was kind of cute, she looked hot when she was mad, not that he would share that tidbit of information with her.

"Leah, I really want to…I just…He's so…pickles." Gabriella finished, knowing that Leah would know what she meant.

After Leah got her first boyfriend, Gabriella and her had spent all night talking about it. They developed some code words to go along with boy problems, because their parents were always snooping around. Pickles was one of the codeword's, it had a variety of meanings. Pickles in this situation meant, that she liked him enough to go out with him, and didn't know what to do.

"Oh Gabi." Leah sighed into the phone, both curls crumpled piles on the floor, sharing her pain. "Mom! I am in the shower! Leave me alone!" she hollered.

Leah had seen it all first hand, when her sister got her first crush, and went on her first date, and how she'd cried. She'd been their at the hospital. It was painful for Gabi to go through it, but it was also painful for Leah to watch it. She was the only one who hadn't deteriated away from her sister after the accident.

"You know, you got hurt so bad Gabi, you know that you, you just can't. Gabi, I can't watch you get hurt again, and you, you can't afford to get hurt again." Leah told her.

Tears were pooling up in the back of Gabriella's eyes. The memories of the pain, and the suffering she had gone through. But she felt something here. She hardly knew him, but she trusted him. She felt the need to be near him, and she didn't know how to ignore that and let it go.

"Leah, I can't explain it. It's like, I need to be around him, because it's the best thing in the world. When I'm with him, it's like my hearts outside my body and is just thundering and I feel all tingly. When he touches me, even just brushes up against me, I shiver and I'm always smiling and blushing. I hardly know him, but it's like, like, I feel like…" Gabriella trailed off as the tears began to pool down her cheeks.

"Oh god. You poor, poor, thing. I can't believe this, I mean I knew you liked him, but I didn't know. You are so screwed, what are you going to do?" Leah asked, voice full of awe. In the background you could hear someone banging on the bathroom door.

"Screwed!? What do you mean by that, what am I going to do about what?" she asked, panic arising in her voice.

"Gabs, isn't it obvious, you feel for him." Leah told her.

Gabriella Montez had made a vow never to fall for another guy again. This vow, was not working out for her. But she hadn't fallen in love with Troy, that was too fast. You can't fall in love with someone you've known in four days.

"Lee, I didn't fall for him, I am not in love." Gabriella told her strictly, trying to set the story straight.

"You poor thing." Leah went on.

"I am not in love." Gabriella stated once again over the phone, at the same time wondering if she really could be, then pushing it out of her mind.

"You are in love." Leah repeated.

"Lee, stop it, I am not!" she protested, quite weakly at this point.

"You are also in denial," Leah said, at this point she was talking in a dramatic voice, but also like one of a fortune teller or great gypsy.

"Leah, I can't be in love, or like, or anything. I, this isn't happening. Leah, I can't get involved with another guy, I don't know what I was thinking, first I was talking to my math homework and then I was thinking about our almost kiss, and then I called you, I can't handle this, what do I do?" she cried, breaking into sobs over the phone.

"You talk to your math homework, wait! Almost kiss, Gabi, Gabi, Gabi." she chided, trying to brainstorm something in her head.

"You know what, I'm going to give it a few days, and see what happens, it's not like I can avoid guys forever right Leah? Yeah, that's it. Thanks Lee, you're the best!" Gabi responded, snapping her phone shut.

"That's what sisters are for." Leah said into the dial tone, shutting her cell phone and coming out of the bathroom, proceeding to discuss with her mother that there was more then one Gabriella Montez in the world.

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"Hey Gabi, you're finally downstairs." Troy said, as Gabi went straight into him and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his shoulder. Troy stood in shock for a moment, before wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer, expecting a protest, but receiving none.

"Shhhh, it's okay Gabi, you're alright, I'm right here, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not going anywhere." he whispered into her hair, kissing the top of her head. He looked at the girl in his arms, the girl that could be so strong, so smart, and sexy all in one day. The same girl who was looking vulnerable in his arms, full of tears.

"Let's get some Macaroni, then we'll watch a good movie, okay?" Troy said, rubbing circles on her back. She nodded into him, and he sat her down in her chair, proceeding to get her a bowl of macaroni.

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Gabriella snuggled into Troy as he started the movie Grease in the DVD player. They snuggled into the comfortable couch as Gabi fisted her hands in Troy's shirt, leaning her head on his shoulder. Troy smiled at her actions, and wrapped an arm around her, while using his other arm to hit the play on the remote.

Gabriella was really into the movie, she had mentioned it was the first movie she had ever seen, and that she adored it. Troy thought she was so cute watching it. She mimicked the characters faces, and sang all the songs under her breath, thinking that Troy couldn't hear her.

Through the movie Troy had shifted slightly and was now in his boxers, without a shirt. Gabriella had given him permission to take it off, and every once an awhile she would glance over at his six pack, thinking he wasn't looking at her.

She finally glanced at his six pack and saw him looking at her, instead of flushing and turning away embarrassed like Troy thought she would, she turned towards his face and cleared her throat.

"Um Troy, could I um…" she trailed off, her hand reaching out. Troy smiled slightly and gently held it, trailing it along his ab's. He let go and Gabriella began to trace each muscle, sitting there with a somewhat curious look on her face.

Troy leaned his head back and closed his eyes, he didn't think life could get any better, Gabriella sitting next to him tracing his abs with her fingers, setting of sparks and looking pretty sexy while doing so. Suddenly he felt a small force and looked up to see that Gabi had a small fist, that she withdrew quickly.

"Did you just try to punch me?" he asked her smiling, while she hid her fist behind her back giggling shaking her head no. Troy pulled her onto him and began tickling her sides mercilessly, as she squirmed and laughed.

Gabi was laughing so hard she could hardly breathe, but having a lot of fun, being on top of Troy also considered part of that fun. Troy flipped her over so she was underneath him.

"Troy! Stop it!" she laughed, trying to slap his hands away as she shook with laughter. Troy nodded his head no as he continued smiling, her laughing was his new favorite sound.

"Say Troy Bolton is the sexiest guy in the world." he told her, and she still didn't grow uncomfortable around him. She was shaking her head no, and he continued tickling her.

"I was taught never to lie!" she gasped as Troy continued his attack on her sides, as she squirmed beneath him, which was somewhat turning him on, not that she had to know that.

"Say it!" he demanded, he stopped tickling her sides and hovered over her feeling his breath catch. Once again she was flushed, and breathing somewhat heavily. But she had a look in her eyes, they were kind of darkened.

Gabi held her breath as he stopped tickling her, and she noticed Troy was on top of her. His eyes were darkened, with lust. She bit her lip and sucked in a breath, it was decision time, what did she want?

"Troy Bolton is the sexiest guy in the world, and he is going to kiss me right now." she whispered, as both of them leaned in to connect her lips.

Gabriella felt like she'd been shocked with electricity and was stunned by it, but it was a good kind of stunned. His lips were so gentle and soft, and they seemed to mesh with hers perfectly. She couldn't help nibbling on his bottom lip, and then open her mouth slightly to invite his tongue in. He took this initiation with pleasure, and they gently slid their lips over one in another's, until they finally pulled away, Troy pulling her up into sitting position next to him.

"That was…" Troy trailed off

"Wow." she finished.

"Yeah, wow." he said

"Yeah." she said, both grinning like idiots at each other and not really caring.

"It's late, we should get to bed, school day tomorrow." he commented.

"Don't how I'm going to sleep with you shirtless down the hall." she joked, pecking him on the cheek.

"Who needs sleep when you could have me?" he asked, as she playfully slapped him on the arm.

"Ego maniac much?" Gabriella asked, as they both headed upstairs, and to their rooms to tuck in for the night.

(I've decided to give you an extra long chapter, no need to thank me!)

"I've got fifteen missed calls from my dad, all from this morning." Troy commented as he tried to raid Gabriella's pantry for any sort of sugary cereal. She had told him there was none, but he was checking behind all the boxes of everything else, insisting that he was a growing man, and that growing man had to eat more than fruit.

"Maybe it's an emergency?" Gabriella suggested lightly, while debating between dark wash and light wash jeans to go with her black graphic tee with colorful bugs and flowers. She didn't want to get to involved in the family thing, and figured it would be a touchy subject.

"The jeans in your left hand look sexier on you." Troy commented as he secured a box of Fruit loop's from the top shelf. It had been one night, and they'd known each other for five days, but it felt like he'd known her forever.

"If you don't pick up he might stop by here and visit." she commented smoothly as she grabbed the dark wash jeans and proceeded into the laundry room to change. Troy quickly jumped at the next ring and picked up the phone.

"Hey Troy, it's Cara, no school today." Cara told him, her voice becoming louder as he hit the speaker button.

"You're on speaker," he informed her as Gabi came back into the room, so she would know not to talk about any bet. "Hey Gabs, how's hotel Montez?" she asked.

"We're fine Cara, how's Chad's?" Gabi asked with a giggle, picturing Cara locked in a room away from eleven boys (including Chad)

"I swear, sharing a bathroom with a bunch of guys, never again, anyways, not what I called to say. Troy, if you picked up the phone when Coach called you would know that school has been canceled due to some sort of bomb threat. Everyone's been recommended not to leave their houses, there are cops all around and everything." she told him, and in the background you could hear Chad screaming at her to let him in.

"That's cool with us, so no hanging out today?" Troy asked, secretly pleased with this, meaning more alone time with Gabriella.

"Nope, you guys have the whole day to yourselves, and as my mom would say, use protection!" Cara laughed before they heard the click of the phone.

Gabriella had called Cara last night to inform her of what happened, and compare notes on how well Troy kissed from sophomore year compared to now, Cara was reacting like any sisterly figure would, utter teasing.

"So what'd you want to do today?" Troy asked Gabi, while she just shrugged her shoulders, before leading them up to her room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Gabi and Troy were lounging on Gabriella's bedroom floor and body pillows, looking at pictures. She had a big half of her wall that was corkboard, and she was looking for pictures to pin up.

"Oh, I think I found baby pictures, any naked ones?" Troy laughed, flipping through an album. There must have been five dozen albums. Gabriella explained that her mom was a photographer, and both Leah and her loved it as well.

"Nope, burned those my freshmen year of high school." she said proudly with a giggle. She went over next to him as he flipped through.

"Which is you?" He asked, gesturing to a picture with two babies, Gabriella and Leah.

"In every picture of both of us Leah is on the right, and I am on the left. In later pictures you'll see my curly hair, hers is naturally straight." Gabriella explained.

"So St. Petersburg hospital in…" Troy trailed off, reading some messy cursive and waiting for her to fill in the blank.

"London, I lived there until I was two, then we moved to Michigan, then when I was six we moved to New York, then seven was Illinois, eight was Alaska, then eleven was Maine, then thirteen was Arizona, and seventeen was here. My birthday is in April." she told him.

"April? That's not even a month away." he said with a nod, making a mental note to remember and buy her a gift. "New Mexico, born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my days, chillin out max, and relaxin all cool and shootin some b-ball outside the school." Troy rapped to the opening of the Fresh Prince of Bellaire.

"Whose the guy?" Troy asked holding up a picture to show to her, fake jealousy in his tone.

Gabi giggled as she looked at the picture. Gabriella was in a white halter dress with her hair up, and Leah was in a hot pink strapless dress with straight hair that was much shorter than it was now. Two boys, one blonde and one who looked foreign were near them, the foreign with his arm around Gabi's waist.

"Only school dance I ever went to, thirteen, in Arizona. That's Leah with her third boyfriend ever, Jack or Jake something. That's me with my best friend Carlos." she explained, somewhat sadly. "Tell me about your past relationships." she said.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'm kind of a fling type of guy, I had one relationship ever, that was Cara sophomore year. That's been it, other then drunk girls at parties and flings." he told her, somewhat guilty, even though he hadn't known her back then.

"Why did you and Cara break up?" she asked, curious to the answer.

"After our parents met my dad and her mom started having a relationship. My dad was still married, but Cara's dad had abandoned her a couple years ago. That's how I met her. Her dad took her to this one park, put her on the merry-go-round and told her to stay until he came back, and he never did. Eventually someone found Cara a day later, she had refused to move until he came back. But he never did. A couple months later it was released to the media that the red hawks had signed a new coach, Greg Lynch, Cara's father. We eventually ended it because she needed a friend, not a relationship." Troy told her.

Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy, snuggling into his chest a bit.

"I'm sorry, wow," Gabriella said, stunned almost speechless.

"It's okay, what about this picture, that's neither of you right?" Troy asked, referring to the fact that the little girl in the picture wasn't Leah or Gabi.

"Yep, that's Lily when she was two. We defiantly need to tack that one up." she said taking a butterfly shaped tack and tacking the picture up. Gabriella was on a teeter-totter and it was a close up shot of her holding Lily, who bright green eyes were gazing at the camera. Gabriella was dressed for fall, and was looking at Lily in her arms, who was wearing a cute little jacket and hat.

"Here's your dad, and who I think is your mom." Troy said, pointing to a picture of Carlos Montez standing next to a woman who didn't look much like Gabriella or Leah, but was petite like them.

"Yep, my mom lives over on the other side of town with Leah and Lily. My dad and I live over here on the better side." she said, winking when she said better. Troy winked back, causing her to blush.

"Better side, it's better because I'm here. When did your parents split up?" he asked her.

"They didn't, they're still married and in love…it's complicated." Gabriella explained, pulling her knees to her chest.

"Do you want to tell me?" Troy asked gently, pushing some hair out of Gabi's face.

"Not really." she admitted, shrugging her shoulders.

"Then you don't have too." he told, as she smiled a thankful smile.

"I'm tired, do you want to take a nap, on the couch?" she asked, gesturing to her fuscia couch in her room. Troy just smiled and laid down, grabbing her and pulling her in next to him, as they both drifted off.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Troy was woken by a chiming sound, which he figured was the doorbell. He moved carefully and laid Gabi in her bed before rushing to get to the door. But wasn't everybody supposed to stay inside for the day?

He pulled open the oak door to discover that it was pitch black outside, except for headlights of a black minivan that he saw pulling away. He thought he heard Leah talking, but it appeared nobody was at the door. He felt a tug on his jeans and looked down, his mouth dropping open along with his gaze.

There, standing in a little plaid coat, clutching a purple bunny. Was a miniature version of Gabi. The little girl had cute dimples, and Gabi's same facial shape. She had Gabi's long curls, which were waist length, only a couple of inches longer then Gabi's. She had green eyes, but they had the same effect of Gabi's, like they could see straight into your soul. The little girl shifted and dropped her suitcase on the ground. Her face scrunched up like she was going to cry, but she must have decided against it. Instead she pulled at her jeans before looking up at Troy.

"Scuse' me mister, but you're not my mommy." she said, crossing her arms and stomping her foot.

Troy gulped, he'd seen pictures, and he'd know that face anywhere.

He had just met Lily Montez.


End file.
